Our first and probably only experience with Bloedel Boat Rentals was a huge disappointment. We…read morerented a pedal boat for a lil fun exploring the lake. The person working at the rental shack was super friendly and helpful with directing us to our rental boat. We pushed off from shore peddling backward until we reached a good spot to turn ourselves around and move forward with our adventure. Much to our disappointment the boat would only turn to the left no matter which direction you try to steer it in while peddling forward. So at this point we are just doing circles in place lol. We then reversed ourselves back to shore and decided to try the second peddle boat that was brought out by mistake. The second boat was even worse lol. The second boat had the same issue of only circling left when peddling forward, only this boat had a broken seat back which also made peddling a struggle. We went back to the rental shack to return our life jackets, the person working was super nice and offered us another boat, but we declined because at that point we were over it. The rental person did reach out to the owner for us and we got a refund about a week later. I just can't help but wonder about the condition of their other boats since we tried two different boats and both we broken.

I rented a kayak and had a great time. The workers carried the kayak to the water, provided a free…read morelife vest and helped me board. Very safe, friendly situation. I really enjoyed getting out on the water. They have paddle boats and paddle boards that the kids seem to sit on and paddle like canoes while wearing life jackets. A great way to spend an hour or more. Easy payments online

Pine and Cedar Lakes Trail is a solid kick in the pants with 1500 ft of elevation gain in 1.5…read moremiles. I spent two days camping at Pine Lake and saw one other person. Another bonus is that the hills mask the hum if I-5. There are plenty of boot tracks to explore along the North Shore. A very peaceful place with solitude in spades!

Great hike. I made it a loop and ended up at Falls Drive and walked along the main road back to the…read moretrailhead. I went alone and didn't encounter a single person in the 4-5 hours it took for me to do the loop. Not all maps show the trail that leads off so you can make the loop. You go to the south from an off shoot in between cedar and Pine lake. The trails at this point are very overgrown. There is more opportunities to go on trails but I stuck on the service roads for the most part. Lots of good lookout points over Lake Samish. The original hike to get to Pine and Cedar lake is very steep. Once you get past that point it is more rolling hills or flat. I highly recommend turning left and heading toward the overlook NW of Cedar lake. Great views of the San Juan's and on the other side you can see Baker. For the Lakes there is camping opportunities available (primitive). Also there are no toilets available. Swimming in the lakes might be possible but they look as if the water is stagnant and there is much muck. I'm only knocking it down because of the hill. The overgrown section isn't part of this trail but is a fun way to go if you want more mileage and to make a loop of it. Just be aware you will be walking back along the road and there is little to no shoulder at times so walk towards the oncoming traffic to step out of the way when they approach.

I can't even write this review on the basis of the ice climbing experience, as I didn't actually…read moreget an ice climbing experience. We scheduled our 1-day Alpine Ice Climbing Course for Sunday, 1/22/12. After a few cryptic emails from the guide, we finally found out the location to meet him the night before we had to leave (at 5am!!!) to arrive at Mount Baker...in the parking lot of an obscure place called Wake and Bake down a sketchy drive (thank God for 4wd) that was pretty well hidden in the woods, only to be accessed by locals who come there on a regular basis, and extremely difficult for anyone else to find due to their lack of signage. There was another gal in the parking lot waiting for him as well, and she was just as in the dark about the entire expedition as we were. We had no idea what he would be driving, what he looked like, etc, due to his lack of communication and inability to answer a phone. Finally, said guide shows up (at 9am!!!) in small Rav 4 (which obviously couldn't fit everyone and their gear...apparently we were following him up the mountain, good thing I didn't bring my tiny Rabbit!) and wanders around the parking lot looking confused. Obviously he was looking for someone, and the only reason we knew it was him is because as flakiness went so far, this guy completely fit the bill. We get out of the car, as does the girl beside us, and he approaches us, now looking completely surprised, as though he didn't know he was going to run into PEOPLE in the parking lot. He looks at the other girl, speaks to her by name, looks at us, and asks who we are and why we are there. Mind you, we talked to him the NIGHT BEFORE about where to meet, and verified our climb date three weeks ago (I still have the confirmation email!)...we explain this to him and he says, channeling his inner Garth without the comedy, "well, I guess that will be ok, we're just going to have extra people on the trip". Extra? And, wait, YOU'RE the only guide with a bunch of people whom have never ice climbed, only two of whom have ever top-roped or lead-belayed and only one who is an experienced lead climber??? We then explain that we had been emailing just the night before. He says he must have been sleep-typing. And I'm about to put my life into the hands of someone who can't even remember what he was doing the night before??? It gets better. Two more people show up, who have had their excursion verified prior to Christmas, and, lo and behold, find out that he's even more surprised that they were there also. That makes 9 people, one extremely incompetent guide, 12 feet of snow and technical ice tools. We ask him if he has an itinerary, he says no. We ask him if we need ice axes (this is ice climbing) and he says no. We ask him if snowshoes are a good idea, since we just found out we were going to hike in a 140" base 1-2 miles to our destination, he says, "that sounds like a good idea, who has snowshoes?" The two of us raise our hands. Meaning that apparently everyone else will have to slog through waist deep snow for miles, holding their packs and crampons above their heads??? We again ask the safety of the excursion due to the "extra" people and make an executive decision to not risk our lives and go snowshoeing on our own instead. I am extremely disappointed as I was really excited to take this trip, but don't regret not taking it due to the confusion, lack of competence, trustworthiness and inability to coordinate...the combination of the above would have made me feel extremely unsafe in any situation...including grocery shopping. I hope we get our money back and really hope that everyone was safe on the mountain today, and I will never, ever recommend Peregrine Expeditions.

I am absolutely apalled at the lack of professionalism from the 'business'. A friend of mine and I…read morepurchased a Living Social for a canyoneering trip in Arizona. We immediately booked our dates, filled out the forms and were told that we were confirmed for our booking on Dec 1. My friend was contacted less than two weeks before stating there wasn't enough people to go on the trip and that we could go that Saturday (with a few days notice). I was never once contacted. My friend left a message with Joseph but did not hear anything. I then attempted to call and after 3 days did speak with him. I was told that 6 people were needed to make the trip for LIving Social purchasers. Nowhere does this information appear on the LIving Social. I was essentially told that while we can make future reservations, they could not guarantee that we would actually go when scheduled as it depends on the number of people. While this is completely understandable, this was in no way mentioned in the communication process. Regardless, when people book a day excursion, their schedules are also altered as well and not knowing if you are to go or not is quite an inconvenience. I received my money back from Living Social who confirmed that this was unfair and not in the fine print. To me this was a very benign situation. I bought something, it wasn't going to work out and I got my money back.. end of story. However, the story continues. Instead of this being done, my friend received a rude voice mail disparaging her and I and our 'bad attitudes'. Very unprofessional. We THEN received an email where I was put down for calling the 'Saturday after Thanksgiving' and that we both have very little 'life experience'. The funny thing is, he mentions our "extreme reaction". ??? Our reaction was to call and expect a) contact back , which we did not receive and b) logical assistance as to how we can actually go on this excursion, which we were told "you may go on your scheudled trip or you may not" . These are not 'extreme requests", these are expected business practices. Lastly, the minimum participants needed is in no way listed , hence the reason I received a refund. The email is condescending and unprofessional. I have attached it: Erin and Reese - I am not sure what happened here but the extreme reaction I've received from you both is unprecedented and un called for. Peregrine Expeditions is proud of our excellent track record of successfully taking hundreds of people every year on technical mountain adventures in extreme climates and conditions. I've personally won awards for excellence in mountain stewardship on Mt McKinley in Alaska and won scholarships from Mt Hardware to complete AMGA guide certification. The canyoneering program in Phoenix is a huge success. People have a blast and you won't find a safer outfitter. Whether I personally run the trip or not all guides are certified professionals required to have more than five years experience working with other companies. The trip on the 1st is cancelled due to under attendance. I hate having to cancel the trips but we need at least 4 or 5 participants for it to run. It should state this on your Living Social voucher. If it doesn't that is unfortunate because it should. When to make the decision to cancel is not easy especially since we have people sign up sometimes a day or 2 before. The good news is that you are both able to get a refund for Living Social. In order to clarify. Getting a refund for your canceled trip is 100% fair and I support that. Calling up on the Saturday after Thanksgiving with a rude condescending tone and leaving messages on questionable safety based on.....? is out of hand. It's also rude and shows very little life experience. Good luck -- Joseph Anderson Peregrine Expeditions phone: (360)393-8098 www.PeregrineExpeditions.com

Went there for the cycle classes. Great bikes and they teach regular indoor cycle without all the…read moreupper body choreography and the like. Took 3 classes. One instructor was pretty boring, both in music selection and cues. Second one had great music and did try their best but was clearly new and not very confident. Third one would not stop talking. Some of the staff were delightful and very welcoming while others were not so much. Best part were the class participants!

So first off, this place does not ensure that the classes they advertise are the classes you get…read more I'm a 4.0 player, signed up for a 4.0 class and all the other players are much lower level. They're fine people but it's not fun for anyone when the levels are disparate. 2nd, I request to cancel the rest of my classes because I'm not getting what I paid for. Now they refuse to refund me the rest of my money!! They are stealing money. Do NOT give this place any money!!

Top notch half day sea kayak tour! Staff have ACA training which shows a commitment to high…read morenational standards and safety. I trust their knowledge of the area, their kayak skills, and safety mindedness. The kayak guide was fun, knowledgeable, and had everything going smoothly. I'd gladly do another kayak tour with these folks!

An absolutely perfect day; a perfect experience with wonderful guide. We can't give Brandon credit…read morefor the weather, but after such a breathtaking experience, we were praising him for the perfect weather, too. Booking was a breeze, advanced communication was timely and informative, check-in was friendly and easy, and even the drive across the island from Friday Harbor was engaged and informative. But the real magic happened on the water, where we started under mild, overcast skies, and ended with sunshine and perfect weather. Along the way we saw: 1 black fox, 2 harbor seals, 1 harbor porpoise, a rhinoceros auklet (unique diving sea bird), 13+ Bald Eagles, AND TWO HUMPBACK WHALES! The beach side lunch was fantastic... the best turkey sandwich I've ever had, made exceptional by the views and the company. The lack of an Orca sighting made this full day trip an eyelash shy of perfect, but we could not have otherwise been more thrilled with our experience on the water with Brandon and the Discovery Sea Kayak team. Thank you for a magical day on the island. PS - we paid half as much for a full day tour with Discovery as we did for a half day tour on Orcas Island, so this group gets our strongest recommendation!

Mackenzie is our daughter's riding instructor when we go and is very reasonable in pricing, super…read moregood with kids, and is very good at what she does. I wanted to add this business so people in the area know there is more in America rather than going to Canada for business! They came through for me and have kept our business after the place across the border ruined my daughter's hopes to plan for riding lessons due to some Bad weather. Burkwood is a great farm, friendly staff, and local! Thank you Mackenzie!

There are doggy trash bags and doggy bags along the trail if you are walking/hiking with your dog…read more It's a well maintained trail, although it can get muddy at times. If you want to see a waterfall, you can take the main trail and then take a right at the sign to see it. It's a 1.5 mile loop total.

Bellingham, WA hike -Lookout Mountain Preserve Easy hike…read morethrough the green moss covered woods about 1.5 hours to the Watcom lookout and back. First there is initial 1 mile trail to get to the main trailheads then There is a loop trail about 2 miles and another .4 miles to the lookout. The hike gives some shade but not fully covered so if there is rain you will definitely get wet! It's fairly easy with gentle climbs to the lookout and due to the tall trees the view wasn't as great as I pictured but still a great hike meandering through the forest. It is very muddy in the wet months with some permafrost near the top. Value 5/5 Atmosphere 4/5 Service 4/5 Quality 4/5 17/20

Really lovely area to explore the rocky coast of Washington. Free entry, free parking, plenty of…read moreplaces to explore, hike, enjoy a picnic, play on playgrounds, you name it. A bit secluded which just adds to its allure in my book. Love the coupling of large trees and rock beach right next to each other, such a unique thing to experience.

Birch Bay is probably in the Top 3 of my favorite state parks. It's in an idyllic, bayside setting,…read morewith a huge campground and lots to do in the area. I spent many a summer weekend tent camping there with my kids, and recently returned to camp again for the long weekend over July 4th. As any local will tell you, the Birch Bay area is THE place to be to celebrate and over-the-top Independence Day. Since my tent camping with kids days I've upgraded to a small teardrop travel trailer. Luckily, the majority of sites at the BBSP campground accommodate smaller travel trailers. They even have water/electric hookup sites but these are almost impossible to procure. Still, it was fun to boondock for four nights at one of their many double/group sites - which we shared with some friends. I was thankful for having a trailer, because it rained HARD for two of the days we were there and everything was soaked. Our group site (107/108) was also located near a bog so it got especially muddy. Still, we didn't let it ruin the fun - but it was a good reminder that it's never a bad idea to bring extra awnings and canopies on these PNW camping trips. The park itself is well-managed, with rangers regularly circulating and a camp host on duty most of the day. The bathrooms are clean and serviced regularly, and there are coin-op showers to keep you clean. The beach is a short walk from the campground, and an amazing place to watch sunsets. We also rode bikes into the village - it's perfectly level and there's a bike lane most of the way. We ended up at the local brewery, which was right across from the beach and a great place to listen to some live music and enjoy the weekend. Birch Bay State Park will always be on my radar for great, not-too-far-away, family-friendly camping spots. Reserve early for best selection!